18
Jun
Synthetic Turf Company Sues to Silence Environ. and Health Groups on Hazards/Alternatives; Pushback
(Beyond Pesticides, June 18, 2025) A major artificial turf manufacturer’s effort to block a webinar about the hazards of synthetic turf has triggered a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against it. That suit, filed in Nassau County, New York, accuses the Polyloom Corporation of America of having engaged in an illegal Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) for trying to block the turf webinar by the non-profit Grassroots Environmental Education, featuring a presentation by a scientist from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
The webinar, slated for January 23, 2025, entitled “The Trouble with Turf,” was intended to discuss potential adverse health risks of artificial turf, including the fact that most artificial grass blades contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The session and material did not mention Polyloom Corporation, which self-describes as “one of the largest designers, producers, recyclers, manufacturers and installers of artificial turf in the United States.”
Three days before the webinar, Polyloom filed both a complaint and an application for a Temporary Restraining Order, preliminary injunction, and monetary damages against Grassroots, the webinar sponsor, and all the individuals slated to speak in it who were sued in their individual capacities. Polyloom’s action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. On January 21st, the court ordered the two sides to “meet and confer” before considering any motion to dismiss. As a result, Grassroots agreed to postpone its webinar indefinitely. The Tennessee court recently allowed Polyloom “limited discovery,” which the court stated it did with “some hesitance.”
The new lawsuit, filed under the Civil Rights Law of New York by all the people and entities named in Polyloom’s action, charges the corporation of having engaged in an illegal SLAPP suit “for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing, or maliciously inhibiting the free exercise of speech, petition or association rights.” The suit seeks $100,000 in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages, as well as all costs and attorneys’ fees.
“Corporate bullies should not get away with using the legal system to quash the truth,” stated PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and PEER’s leading spokesperson on artificial turf issues. Dr. Bennett was one of the scheduled speakers at the cancelled webinar. “The purpose of anti-SLAPP laws, such as New York’s, is to prevent corporations from intimidating people speaking out on matters of public concern.”
The Grassroots webinar also featured Dr. Sarah Evans, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Jay Feldman, the Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides and an expert on alternatives to artificial turf, and Patricia Wood, Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education.
- Dr. Evans stated, “All communities deserve access to unbiased, scientific information about the potential risks from play on artificial turf. Silencing scientists hurts communities, preventing them from accessing the information that they need to make evidence-based decisions to protect public health.”
- “Our lawsuit is an important attempt to hold Polyloom accountable for false accusations on scientific questions of safety and the potential of synthetic turf to present a hazard to health and the environment,” Mr. Feldman stated. “Beyond Pesticides advances organic land management as an alternative to synthetic turf, and the discussion of this alternative should not be stifled by Polyloom or other corporations that have a vested economic interest in downplaying or misleading on the hazards associated with their products.”
- “Our mission is to educate the public and decision makers about how environmental exposures can impact human health, especially for children,” says Ms. Wood. “Peer-reviewed research indicates that there can be significant adverse health outcomes associated with artificial turf. Toxic chemicals in some infill and other components of the fields, extreme heat, increased risk of injuries, and a plastic playing surface that sheds microplastics are a particular concern for children who are uniquely vulnerable due to immature physiological and behavioral differences.”
For more information, please contact Kyla Bennett, PhD, Director of Science Policy, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Director, PEER, at [email protected].
Featured in the New York Times article published on June 17, 2025, “Is Fake Grass Safe? A Manufacturer Sues to Stop a Discussion.“
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of PEER and Beyond Pesticides [press release from June 17, 2025].
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🦋 National Pollinator Week for Wednesday! Identifying and Planting for Pollinators
With pollinators responsible for over 80% of the world’s flowering plants, it’s no wonder we are fighting to protect them. Pollinators are important members of various land ecosystems; therefore, how we manage these ecosystems and landscapes plays a critical role in long-term pollinator health. The expansion of urban, suburban, and agricultural areas reduces pollinator habitat and access to food, while intensive chemical use harms these beneficial organisms. Pesticide applications expose bees, birds, butterflies, and more to acute and sublethal levels of pesticides, which can result in reproductive abnormalities, impaired foraging, and even death. Please see our brief introduction to pollinators here!
As a symptomatic example of the ongoing insect apocalypse, populations of both Eastern and Western monarch butterflies have been decreasing in recent years, leading environmentalists to clamor for an “endangered” classification for the species. Monarch butterflies serve as an indicator of the status of insect pollinators and their habitats, whose decline threatens worldwide ecology and agriculture, and exemplifies the failure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the Office of Pesticide Programs, to regulate with a holistic lens that protects biodiversity. Although many factors are involved in the devastation of insect populations, scientific studies show that pesticide use ranks high, led by the use of seeds coated with neonicotinoid insecticides. Other pesticide impacts include mortality from insecticide drift and the destruction of milkweed by herbicides. These impacts are exacerbated by climate change, which is made worse by the production and use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers.
What can we do? You can play a role in protecting pollinators by making an organic garden with colorful, bee-attractive flowering plants, pledging it as pollinator-friendly, or even organizing your community, schools, or local government to make choices that foster pollinators. Don’t have a garden? Windows and balconies are also great places to feature plants to encourage pollinators to stop by! Backyard trees, gardens, and beekeeping are great ways to support biodiversity and pollinators. Intentionally providing water, food, and forage to pollinators will encourage and boost pollinator populations in your community. It helps to review Organic Lawn Care 101 best practices and know your weeds—simple steps to convert your lawn to organic! Check out the BEE Protective Habitat Guide, the Do-It-Yourself Biodiversity resource, which offers hints about increasing biodiversity, and the Pollinator-Friendly Seed Directory.
Because so many people have been involved in monitoring their populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has responded to the call to protect monarch butterflies by proposing to list them as a threatened species and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Join Beyond Pesticides and take action here! 📣 TAKE ACTION: Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize its proposed listing of monarchs as threatened.
Sources:
Tabuchi, H. and Belson, K. (2025) Is fake grass safe? A manufacturer sues to stop a discussion. – The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/climate/artificial-turf-grass-lawsuit-defamation-health-risk.html (Accessed: 17 June 2025).
PEER press release—‘Artificial Turf Company Hit with Big SLAPP Suit; Polyloom Defamation Suit Targeted Non-Profit Educational Turf Webinar’ (2025). Washington, DC. (Accessed 17 June 2025).
